Improvement in harvesters



GI Hl HARVESTING AND MOWING MACHINE.

Patented June 8, 1852.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

eno. H. RUGG, or sou'rn OTTAWA, rumors.-

IMPRQVEMENT m HARVESTERS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I,- GEORGE H.: Rose, of South Ottawa, in the county ofLa Salle and State of Illinois, have invented a newand ImprovedHarvesting and Mowing Machine; and I do hereby declare thatthe followingis afnll, clear, and exact description-of the same, reference-being hadto the annexed drawings, making part of this specification, in-which--Figure 1 is a side elevation. Fig. 2 is a plan or birds-eye view: 7Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each of theseveral figures.

The nature of my invention consistsrin the peculiar shape andarrangement of the fingers which set over the sickle, and by which thesickle, with the'aid of the rivets which-will be hereinafter described,is prevented from being clogged.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe fully its construction and operation.

A A represent. the frame. B .B are the wheels, and O the axle, whichfits in suitable bearings, c c,-on the cross-pieces c cof the frame. Byreferring to Fig. 1 the position of these cross-pieces will be seen. Theback part of them are mortised in flush. with the lower part of the backtransverse cross-piece, a, of the'frame, and the front parts are boltedin the upper part of. the transverse cross-piece b. Now, it will be seenthat the pieces e care bolted underneath the two transverse crosspiecesabove-mentioned -via, a and b'--and consequently the side pieces aremuch lower than the longitudinal cross-pieces c c, on which the wheels BB are hung. This is a great advantage, as large wheels mayv be employedand the draft of the machine be much easier than when smaller wheels areused. The side pieces, 6 e, are somewhat curved. The dotted lines inFig. 1 show the departure of the side pieces from a straight line andfully explain the curve. The object is to bring the sickle N to a properposition with respect to the ground, while the side pieces, on thefrontcrosspiece of which is the sickle, being. lower than the axle, grass orother material may be cut the required closeness.

D is a toothed wheel hung on the axle at about the center: This toothedwheel meshes into a pinion, E, which is hung on a vibrating shaft, F.011 this shaft F is also hung a bevelwheel, G, which meshes into abevel-pinion, H. The bevel-wheelG is thrown in or out of gear with thebevel-pinion H by means of the lever h, acting upon the vibrating shaftF. This lever is of course moved by hand. The shaft I of, the pinion ;His ,of course placed longitudinallyfandfa crank, '5, is attached to itsouter end, to which one end of the connesting-rod J is attached.

L is the screw-rod which connects the lever K with the lever K.

M is the screw by which the rod L is'sh'ortened. It is formed by cuttinga screw, m, on one portion of the rod, which screws into a not setbetween the prongs of a fork, l, on'the other portion. (See Fig. 2.)The. object in shortening the rod is to make the sickle per fectly taut,thus giving it greater facility to i cut and preventing sudden jerks:orjars.

N is the sickle, and O are the f ngers. The sickle is attached by rivetsnto a metal strip, P, which is attached 'tothe. ends of the levers K K.These rivets pass through the sickle and project a short distance belowit. Fig. 1.) The fingers O are driven into the front cross-pieces of theframe, and have semi circular curves 0. (Distinctly seen -in-'Fig; 1.)These curves of the h ngers arefor the purpose of cleaning the rivets,forming a recess in which the rivets vibrate. By means of the curves andthe rivets the sickleis prevented from being clogged, as the rivets drawout all straw or grass that may happen to catch between the sickle andfingers.

It will be seen that the sickle rests upon the lower part of thefingers, and the fingers are bent so as to project over a' portion ofthe top .of thesickle. (See Fig. 2.)

R is the reach. This is attached to the two cros's-piecesof the frameand underneath them, so that the reach may be attached at a point lowerthan the axle of the wheels. By this means the propelling-power has .atendency to raise the sickle from the ground, instead of forcing'itdown.

S is a box on the end of the reach, on the top of which is placed thedrivers seat.

T is the rod which passes up vertically through the end of the reach.The reach rests upon a shoulder, 'v, on the rod, as seen' in Fig. 1. Theroller U is attached to the lower part of the rod, and the roller is.turned either right or left by the knees of the driver actingupon(Seethe lever V on the top of the rod '1, said lever projecting out ashort distance in front of the seat and directly underneath it. To thereach B may be affixed theusual splinter-bar, to which the horses areattached. It will thus be seen that the working parts of themachine arein front of the motive power, and the draft in this case is much easierthan when the motive power is on one side, the propelling-power beingmore direct.

- X is a lever attached to the frame A A-at one end to an upright, w,attached to the reach through 'a mortise near the other end. Thisleveris for the purpose of raising and depressin g the front of themachine, and consequently the sickle. 'By this means grain may be cut sothat the straw may beof any length required; and grass may be out asclose as the nature of the ground will admit. X may be secured by a pinpassing through holes in the upright :10. (See Fig. 1.)

Y is'the conveyer-reel, driven by the pulley z, hung on the axle c. isthe rope which passes over the pulley z and pulley u on the This leveraxle of the reel. When the grain is to be cut a-platform, Z, is placedon the front of the frame, as seen in Fig. 2, on which the grain passesafter being cut, and is raked 'ofi'; but

when grass is to be mowed the platform is removed, and the grass passesover the sickle and front cross-piece ot the frame and falls upon theground.

I'do not confine myself to any particular material in theconstruction ofmy machine. The frame will probably be of wood and the working partsconstructed of metal.

Having thus described the nature and operationof my invention,I-what Iclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

:The curved fingers O, in combination with the rivets n, projectingbelow the sickle N, by which means the sickle is prevented from beingclogged or bound, substantially as de- G. H. RUGG.

scribed.

Witnesses: JAMES STOUT, I.'H. MGGREGOR.

